By the time he finally leaned in and put his mouth on her, she was already trembling, her toes curling. Then, hands on her hips to hold her upright, he took her to a whole new place, showing her things she’d never known she could feel.

Twice.

When she was still gasping, still shuddering, he rose to his full height, bared his essentials—and oh my goodness she did love his essentials.

He pulled a condom from somewhere and she once again wrapped herself around him, crying out when he slid home. The sound seemed to finally unleash the beast within him. He was still holding her face in his hands and she could feel his fingers curling into loose fists in her hair as she moved with him, meeting every thrust, spurring him on as the deep sensations pulsed and spread through her until she couldn’t contain herself.

As she came, crying out, clutching at him, he roughly groaned her name and buried his face in the crook of her neck, following her over and into the abyss.

Chapter 18

#NotInKansasAnymore

They ended up on their backs, boneless and sated on the hardwood floor. At least, Joe was boneless and sated. He hoped like hell that Kylie was too. As soon as he could find his limbs, he’d make sure of it.

After what might have been five minutes or maybe even a year, he felt her shift, throwing an arm over her eyes. A little sigh escaped her and at that tiny sound, he managed to stir. He rolled to his side and brushed a kiss over her shoulder, his lips curved in a smile because she was still wearing the wig. “Hey, Red.”

She stared up at him, going still. “Oh my God, don’t tell me I’m still wearing the wig.”

“Okay, I won’t tell you.”

She touched her head. “Dammit.”

He smiled. “Your boots too. Love those boots, Kylie.”

She moaned and he laughed. Laughed, while naked on the floor with a woman. Shaking his head at that, he had to laugh again. “Didn’t see you coming, Kylie.”

“Hmm,” she murmured, which he hoped meant she knew the feeling.

He came up on one arm, using the other to tug her into him. “‘Hmm’ good, right?”

She let out a rough, mirthless laugh. “Fishing for compliments?”

He stroked a finger along her jaw, his mouth curved. “Yeah, well, you’re a hard woman to read.”

She met his gaze. “All you have to do is look in the mirror at the ten nail indentions in your back.”

He chuckled and rubbed his finger over the brow she’d furrowed. “But something’s bothering you.”

“But . . .” She paused with a rueful smile. “I have to admit . . .” She looked around them. “I feel a little bit like I just turned into my mother, boinking against the wall to scratch an itch. I mean, what the hell was that?”

“Adrenaline,” he said. “Sometimes after a mission’s over, it all builds up and you need to release it somehow. A good fight works, but sex works better.”

She just stared up at him.

“It’s totally normal,” he said, meaning to soothe and comfort. “It happens.”

“Oh really. It happens,” she said.

He hesitated at her suddenly overly careful tone, replaying what he’d just said and wondering how he’d screwed up so that she’d misconstrued his statement.

“Not to me, this doesn’t happen,” she said and sat up.

“Kylie—”

“No. I get it. Please don’t explain it again.” She got to her wobbly feet, moving around, picking up pieces of clothing and pulling it all back on.

“Kylie. Wait.” He got up as well, reaching out for her, but she pushed his hands away.

“I’ve got it,” she said.

His phone buzzed an incoming text. He glanced at it and grimaced. “I’m sorry,” he said. “But it’s my dad. I have to look at it.”

She nodded and he assessed the text.

I’ve been followed.

Oh, shit. His dad was going off the rails again. He hit his dad’s number. “What’s wrong?” he asked, relieved his dad picked up. He didn’t always because cell phones could be traced and he was paranoid.

“They’re tracking me,” his dad said. “Through the walls. They’re banging on the damn walls.”

Joe looked at the common wall between his place and his dad’s. The wall he’d just taken Kylie against. He closed his eyes. “Dad, no one’s tracking you. It was . . .” Hell. “The wind.”

“There’s no wind tonight.”

“Okay, then it was me.” Joe grimaced. “I was . . . hanging up some pictures.”

Kylie stopped straightening out her clothing, pivoted and gave him a brows up.

“You don’t have any pictures,” his dad said in his ear. “And it’s almost midnight. I’m telling you, someone’s coming to get me.”

“Dad, listen to me,” Joe said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “No one’s coming to get you. I’ll be over in a minute. Do not do anything until I get there.” He shoved the phone into his pocket and turned around to find Kylie standing in front of his living room window, hugging herself, looking out into the night.

“Hey,” he said, coming up behind her, enveloping her in his arms. “I’ve got to—”

“I know.” She stepped away. “I’ve got to go too. I’ve got an Uber coming.”

She started to walk out the door, but he caught her by the wrist and reeled her back in. “What’s going on, Kylie?”

She tried giving him an innocent look. “What’s going on is that you’ve got to go.”

He pulled her around to face him and bent his knees a little to look into her eyes. “It seems like maybe it’s you who has to go.”

She turned her head away and he gently turned it back. “My dad lives right next door,” he said, “on the other side of this duplex. Unfortunately, he needs me to stop by right now, but I thought I could make us a late dinner. Us, as in you and me and him.”

“It’s nearly midnight,” she said.

“So everyone keeps saying, but my stomach doesn’t tell time. It just tells me when it’s hungry. My dad and I often eat really late. You in?”

“You cook?” she asked in surprise.

“I’m an awesome cook,” he said, not above wanting to impress her with his skills. He’d learned young that if he didn’t want to eat out of a can, he had to make his own food. He’d gotten good at it, and then even better once he’d hit puberty and realized how much girls loved the fact that he could cook for them. He’d gone on to use that knowledge ruthlessly to his advantage with women for a lot of years, but this would be the first time he’d ever cooked for one and his dad at the same time. Which meant that Kylie was different, a fact he already knew.

She was looking at him now, studying him with a slight furrow to her brow.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re like this really big puzzle. One of those with a thousand-plus pieces, and I’m not only missing a bunch of those pieces, I don’t even have all four of the corners.”

He had to laugh. “Yeah. And I don’t fit into a box very well either.”

At his smartass comment, the corners of her mouth curved in a very small smile that said not only did she have his number, but she also got him, as in all the way to the heart and soul got him, and it made his breath catch. He pulled her in for a hug, needing the contact in a way he couldn’t have articulated if he’d tried. But luckily he didn’t need to. She willingly snuggled into him as well, as if maybe she had the same need. Brushing a kiss to her temple, he closed his eyes and held on. He had no idea what he was doing, which was a hard thing to swallow since he made sure to always know what he was doing. But one thing he did know—he wasn’t sorry. And something else—he wasn’t ready to let her go yet.